National

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider its ruling upholding a California law that barred mental counseling aimed at changing a minor's sexual orientation.

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Tuesday that a majority of its 27 judges voted against scheduling a new hearing. That leaves intact California's first-in-the nation law barring licensed counselors from offering treatment geared toward changing the sexual orientation of minors.

A three-judge panel of the court said in August that trying to change a minor's sexual orientation through intense therapy appeared dangerous, and that California lawmakers properly showed that efforts to change sexual orientation were outside the scientific mainstream and have been rejected for good reason.

Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal aid group that challenged the law, said it would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case.